The Jacksonville Jaguars hit a home run in the offseason when they were able to steal Liam Coen away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a move that caused no shortage of controversy, but it paid off almost immediately.
Coen's arrival, along with the rest of the entirely new staff - James Gladstone, Grant Udinski, and Anthony Campanile - was expected to revitalize the struggling Jacksonville team. Multiple Jaguars players, like Trevor Lawrence and Foyesade Oluokun, all had good things to say, and heading into the 2025 season, there was a lot of optimism about where Coen would take this team.
So far, despite some hiccups, things look promising. Coen has already proven himself to be a huge improvement over Doug Pederson, who was notoriously poor at communicating with his players or accepting feedback from them. And under Coen, the Tampa Bay offense was a force to be feared.
The Jaguars are currently second in the AFC South with a 2-1 record, and have proven to be a tough, gritty team capable of winning games even under difficult circumstances. Jacksonville is continually improving each week, and while it's still early, there's reason to believe they could be playoff contenders. So it's not surprising to hear that one Jacksonville mainstay is cheering him on.
A local voice is applauding Coen's performance
Ryan "The Hacker" Green has been a local sports reporter in Jacksonville since 2002, and when it comes to Coen, he likes what he sees so far.
"I like Liam Cohen, man," he said. "I like his attitude. I like his demeanor. I like the fact that he's not afraid to call things out. I like the fact that he's not afraid to show raw emotion on the field. I like the fact he's got a little saltiness to him. I like the fact he's got a little swag to him, a little bravado to him. Jaguars haven't had that in a long time at the head coaching position."
Right Now on Hacker After Dark…Do the Jaguars finally have a head coach that this fan base can rally around? …I think they do pic.twitter.com/uXIXL9ZRve
— Hacker (@RyanGreen1010XL) September 24, 2025
Green went on to say that the other head coaches who have cycled through Jacksonville haven't been the right fit - but Coen is.
"When you go from 2011 to 2025, and the best coach in that 14-year period has 23 wins, which is Doug Marone, that is a problem," Green continued. "That is an indictment on guys that have been the head coach here for the last 15 years, until Liam Coen arrived. Early, early, early, three games in. But I get the feeling that Liam Coen is going to be here for a while, that you guys are going to rally around him like you did Coughlin, and to a lesser extent, Del Rio. I get the vibe that Coen is going to be much more Del Rio/Coughlin to this fan base than Bradley, Malarkey, Marone, Erb, and Pederson. I like the direction. I like it a lot. Jaguars 2-1 on the year. Mark me down as a Liam Coen fan for what I have seen to this point."
Comparing Coen to Tom Coughlin is certainly high praise; he's been inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars, was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1996, and led Jacksonville to the playoffs multiple times. And then there's the fact that he is a two-time Super Bowl champion coach, as well as a candidate for the NFL Hall of Fame for his coaching.
Since Coughlin left Jacksonville, there hasn't been a truly great head coach to fill his shoes. Jack Del Rio briefly appeared to come close, but he crashed and burned rather quickly, and since then, it's been a revolving door of disasters. Coen could hopefully change that, and bring this franchise into the future fans have been waiting for.